Beauty and the Beast

Cosmetic surgery has become as popular as buying a lip-plumping gloss. Media infects society with the notion that beauty is Cheryl Cole’s perfect teeth, which are of course cosmetic and false. Glowing, non-wrinkled skin is Sarah Harding’s botoxed lines to prevent the look of ageing. Culture presents beauty as a commodified concept which can be sold through the business of cosmetic surgery.

Culture has become infested with the notion of perfect beauty to the extent that some parents have encouraged their children to have plastic surgery. Many parents, more specifically mothers, believe that cosmetic surgery is safe as it does not have any medical repercussions, however they fail to recognise the psychological implications that cosmetic surgery may have upon their child.

Children who are encouraged by their parents to have cosmetic surgery are indoctrinated into believing that natural beauty is not real beauty. This inevitably means that children are never told that they should accept the way that they look or that they are beautiful, but rather that they can be improved. This not only makes them believe that they are not beautiful but makes them always feel that they have flaws. They consequently adjust their appearance so that they resemble an image that they have seen in a magazine. They want to conform to a commercialised notion of beauty, which in domino effect buys into the ideological culture of media.

Part of life is to grow up, learn about yourself, accept every part of yourself and acknowledge those parts of you which you may perceive as ‘flaws’ as actually being an authentic part of you. Those differences within your appearance are the constituents which contribute to your individuality. By embracing your whole self, you gain the confidence to allow others to embrace you. But if you remain in doubt about your self and your appearance, you will make others doubt you. You are what you make yourself to be, and that can be accomplished without the use of cosmetic surgery.

Britain’s Missing Top Model is a prime example of ‘beauty’ being a term which is applied to each and every human being. The competition is for disabled models who compete against one another for position of Britain’s Missing Top Model. This illuminates how beauty is fetishized by the media, but is actually applicable to everyone.